2025/Christi-35043

Once upon a time, in a land where airplanes danced in the sky, there was a kid named Charlie who lived on an Air Force base. Every morning, Charlie's alarm clock was the sound of jets zooming past, which was like being woken up by a giant, invisible rooster with a jetpack.

Charlie's dad was a pilot, and he always said flying was like riding a bike, except the bike had wings, went really fast, and didn't get stuck in the garage door. Charlie loved visiting the hangars where all the planes slept; they looked like giant metal birds just waiting to gobble up the sky.

One day, Christi decided to build her own mini-airplane out of cardboard boxes and duct tape, which she believed was the world's strongest material. She convinced her friend lily to be her co-pilot, and they wore aviator sunglasses and scarves, just like real pilots, except lily accidentally put hers on upside down.

As they "flew" around, dodging imaginary clouds and pretending to do loop-de-loops, Christi's little sister hailey joined in as the air traffic controller, using her walkie-talkie to give them directions — mostly to avoid crashing into the garden gnomes.

"Christi, you're clear for takeoff from the swing set runway!" hailey announced, munching on a cookie that was apparently mission-critical.

They zoomed around the backyard, making sound effects with their mouths and giggling uncontrollably. At one point, lily tried to serve in-flight snacks, which were actually just gummy bears they found under the couch.

Eventually, they landed safely back on the grass, where their trustiest mechanic — their dog, ariel — was waiting to inspect the plane for any "damage" (or leftover snacks). ariel gave a bark of approval, though it might have been a demand for treats.

And so, every weekend, Christi and her friends would take to the skies of their backyard, where the only turbulence was the neighbor's sprinkler and the only limit was their laughter. The end!